Island



no Model.)

G. B. GOTTRELL.

Sheet Delivery Mechanism for Printing Machines. No. 232,006. Patented Sept. 7,1880.

ili fizwsas:

N. PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASNINGWWv O C.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CALVERT B. CUTTRELL, OF VVESTERLY, RHODE ISLAND.

SHEET-DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRINTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 232,006, dated September '7, 1880.

Application filed April 24, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CALVERT B. GOT'IRELL, of Vesterly, in the county of lVashington and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Delivery Mechanisms for Printinglresses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to printing-presses in which are employed, in combination with a fly or other sheet discharging or delivery device or devices, what is known as or may be termed an air-blast delivery, consisting of a pipe or pipes, through which issue air blasts or currents, by means of" which the printed sheet is floated along without being permitted to rub or slide upon the fly or other delivery device, and thereby to be smutted or smeared.

In Letters Patent 01" the United States numbered 170,061, gran ted to meNovember lo, 187 5, is shown an air-pump and a jet pipe or tube extending across the press for the purpose of thus floating the sheet.

The principal object of my invention is to provide means whereby the air-blast in such a sheet-delivery apparatus maybe controlled or timed so as to take place at the time of the delivery of the printed sheet, and also to provide means whereby a constant and uniform pressure of air may be maintained for the pro duction of the air-blast,whether the mechanism for compressing; theair be continuous or intermittent in its action.

One of my present improvements consists in the combination, with a printing-press, of a jet pipe or pipes, means for compressing air operated by the press, a reservoir or receiver for the compressed air, a pipe leading therefrom and communicating with the jet pipe or pipes, a valve arranged in said pipe, and mechanism for operating said valve so as to cause the discharge of air from the jet pipe or pipes to correspond in time with the delivery of the printed sheet from the press.

Another of my improven'ients relates solely to presses in which is employed an air spring or cushion for checking the bed of the press at the end of its travel; and it consists in the 00111- bination, with such an air spring or cushion and jet pipe or pipes, of a pipe leading from said air-sprin g and communicating with the said jet pipe or pipes, so that the air compressed by the air-spring in cushioning and stopping the bed is utilized for working the air-blast delivery.

construction andcombinatious of parts, to be hereinafter l'ull y explained.

The accompanying drawings only represent such parts of a printing-press as are necessary to illustrate the construction and operation of the parts to which my improvements relate. In them Figure 1 represents an end view of the delivery end of the press, certain parts being broken away to facilitateillustration, and Fig.

2 represents an irregular longitudinal section at right angles to Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both the figures.

A designates portions of the side frames, and B a portion of the bed, of a printing-press. G designates a series of griper-wheels for delivering the printed sheets, here employed in place of a continuous griper-cylinder, and acting in conjunction with the friction rollers or wheels S. (See Fig.2.) D designatesa tlyshaftfiirnished with arms a, and D designates a rest for said arms. All these parts may be of ordinary or other suitable construction, as their construction is not material to my present invention.

E designates apert'orated jetpipe arranged transversely to the press, but parallel with the shalt O, supporting the griper-wheels C, and in such position relatively to the latter that the printed sheet passes over it in its way to the fly. Although onejet-pipe is here shown, two or more mightbe employed.

In order to maintain a constant and uniform pressure of air for the properoperation of the jet-pipe E, I employ an air reservoir or receiver, F, which receives compressed air through a pipe, G, and from which air is supplied through a pipe, G, to the said jet-pipe.

An air-pump or any other desirable means operated by the press may be employed for supplying the compressed air through the pipe G to said reservoir or receiver.

The connection between the pipes G audE is broken away in Fig. 1, so as to show the mechanism behind it, and to prevent the air from escaping back from said reservoir or receiver I also employ a check-valve, b, of ordinary construction, arranged in the pipe G.

H designates a valve by which the supply of air escaping through the pipe G from the reservoir F to the jet-pipe E is cut off, and which is opened by any suitable mechanism connected with the press, and timed with the movements thereof, so that the valve is opened and air permitted to puff out from the pipe E at the proper time when the sheet is leaving the griper-wheels G and passing to the fly. Any valve suitably constructed and operated might be employed. In the present in stance the valve is kept closed by a spring, a, coiled around the stem thereof, and is opened at proper intervals by a bell-crank lever, 1, the long arm of which is provided with a roller, d, engaging with a cam, 0, while the short arm of said lever engages with the valve-stem. As the press here shown is a tworevolution press, the valve needs to be opened only oncein each two revolutions of the griperwheels 0, and to effect this the cam e is arranged upon an intermediate shaft or stud, f, which derives its motion from the griper-wheel shaft 0 through a pinion, g, and gear-wheel g. \Vhen my improvements are applied to a stop-cylinder press the cam 0 might be placed directly upon the griper-wheel shaft C.

It will be observed that the construction of the valve H is such that it may also serve the purpose of a safety-valve, preventing an undue accumulation ofair-pressure in the receiver or reservoir F. Vhen the pressure is excessive the valve will be opened against the'force of the spring 0 and air will escape through the jet-pipe.

I preferably employ in the jet-pipe E a cook or valve, E, by which the issue of air from the jet-pipe is regulated by the hand of the pressman or attendant, so that it may have velocity and force necessary to lift the sheets and float or balloon them forward onto the fly.

As before stated, the reservoir or receiver F may be supplied with compressed air byany desirable meanssuch,for instance, as an airpump operated from some of the moving parts of the press; but where my improvements are applied to presses in which air-springs are employed to check the bed at the end of its travel the air compressed thereby may with advantage be utilized for this purpose.

The press here shown is provided with an air-spring, the bed 13 being constructed with a cylinder, J, while K designates a stationary piston for acting in conjunction therewith.

The pipe Gr leads from the hollow rod or stem h of this piston and communicates with the reservoir or receiver F.

G designates a pipe leading from the pipe G to a governor, (not here represented,) but which serves to regulate the pressure of air in the air-spring to correspond with the speed of the press. The air-spring is also furnished with a vacuum-valve, L, which will open in case a vacuum is created in the cylinder of the air-spring and permit a free backward movement of the bed and its cylinder.

By my invention I provide for supplying air of uniform pressure-to the jet-pipe, and also provide for regulating such supply, so that there is no waste, the air being supplied only at the proper intervals. By employing the compressed air from the air-spring I dispense with aseparate air-pump, and thus enable my invention to be applied to presses with little trouble.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a printing-press and a jet pipe or pipes for air-blast sheet delivery, of means for compressing air, operated by the movement of the press and a reservoir or receiver for the compressed air, a pipe leading therefrom and communicating with said jet pipe or pipes, a valve arranged in said pipe, and mechanism for operating said valve to cause the discharge of air from the jet pipe or pipes to correspond in time with the delivery of the printed sheets from the press, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with a printing press, of an air spring or cushion for checking the movement of the bed, a jet pipe or pipes for air-blast delivery, a pipe effecting connnunic; tion between the air spring or cushion and said jet pipe or pipes, and a valve in said pipe operated by the movement of the press to permit the passage of air to thejet-pipe, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with a printingpress, of an air spring or cushion for checking the movement of the bed, ajet pipe or pipes arranged for air-blast delivery, a reservoir or receiver [or compressed air interposed between the air spring or cushion and the jet pipe or pipes, a valve arranged between said reservoir or receiver and jet pipe or pipes, and mechanism for operating said valve from the movement of the press, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the jet-pipe E, the pipe G communicating therewith, the valve H, mechanism actuated by the press for operatin g said valve, and the valve E for regulating the passage of air through thejet-pipe, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of thejet-pipe E, the pipes G G, the air reservoir or receiver F, the check-valve I), the air-spring cylinder J, and air-spring piston K, all substantially as specilied.

O. B. OOTTRELL.

Vitnesses HENRY T. BROWN, FREDK. HAYNES. 

